The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1887-11-03
TO BEAT THE TELEPHONE.
Perfected Machine that will Work
a. aRevolution-Edison Tells the Ste
nv of His Invention and What
He Hopes from 1t.

ful laboratory on VIC ISCe Ot 1us
earth. He has erected at Llewellyr
park, in Orange, n. j., three build
inos Of brick. Each is 100 feet long
bv SO wide, and each has four stores
These buildings are being supplied
with every known material which
could possibly be made use Of.
Mr.. Edison has been talking to
reporter of the Erening Post, and has
been telling some marvellous tales
about his perfected phonograph
Hear him:
You know that finished the first
phonogcaph more than ten years ago
It remained more or less of try
The germ Of something wonderful
was perfectly distinct, but tried the
impossible with it and when the elec'
trio light business assumed CONNER
cial Importance I threw everything
overheard for that. Nevertheless
the phonograph has been more or less
constantlyin my mind ever since
When resting from prolonged work
upon the light my brain would revert
almost automatically to the old idea.
Since the light has been finished
have taken up the photograph and
after eight months of steady work
have made it commercial invention.
"My phonograph expect to see
iu every business office. The first
500 will, I hope, be ready for distri.
button about the end of January.
Their operation is simplicity Itself,
and cannot fail. The merchant or
clerk who wishes to send letter has
only to set the machine in motion
and to talk in his natural voice at
the usual rate of speed into the re-
ceiver. When hs has finished the
sheet, or 'phonogram,' as call it, is
ready for putting into little box
madeson purpose for the mails. We
are making the sneets in three sizes
one for letters of from $40 to 1000
words, another size for 1000 words,
another size for 1000 words. I ex
pect that an arrangement may be
made with postofice authorities en-
abling the phonogram boxes to be
sent at the same rate as q letter.
The receiver Of phoDogram will
: put it into his apparatus, and the
6 message will be given out more clear
ly, more distinctly than the best tel
ephoDe message ever sent. The
tones of the voice in the two phono
graphs which l have finished are so
perfectly rendered that one can dis
tinguish between twenty different
persons, each one of whom has said q
few words. One tremendous advan-
tage is that the letter may be repeat
ed Thousand times if necessary.
The phonogram does not wear out by
use; moreover it may be filed away for
hundred years and be ready the in
slant it is needed. If q man dictates
his will to the phonograph there will
be no disputing the authenticity Of
the document with those who knew
the tones of his voice in life. The
cost of making tie phonogram will be
be scarcely more than the cost of ordi-
nary letter paper. The machine will
read out the letter or message with
the same speed with which it was
dictate,
u have experimental with de.
vice for enabling printers to set type
from the dictation of the phonograph,
and think it will work to a charm.
1t is so arranged that the printer by
touching lever with his foot allows
five or ten words of the phonogram
to be sounded. If he is not satisfied
with the first hearing he can make it
repeat the same words over and over
again until be has them in type. For
bGsy men who dictate great deal
for the press, l an sure that the pho
nograph will be necessity after a
very little experience.
For musicians the monograph is
going to do wonders, owing to the ex'
treme cheapness with which ! can du-
plicate phonogrsms and the delicaoy
wlth which the apparatus gives out
all musical sounds. In the early
Dhonograph Of ten years ago, which
was 8 very imperfect ard crude affair
compared to that Of today, it was 81.
wavs noticed that musical sounds
came out peculiarly well; the ms
chine would whistle or sing far bet
ter than it would talk. This peculi-
arity of &he phonograph remains. l
have taken down the music of an or
chestra. and the result is marvellous;
each instrument can be perfectly dis
tinguished, the strings are perfectly
celIos, the wind instruments and the
wood are perfectly heard, and even in
the notes of violin the oyer-tones
are distinct to delicate ear. It is
going to work wonders for the bene-
fit of music lovers. 4 piece for any
instrument, for The piano or for an
orchestra, or an act or the whole of
an opera, musical instruments and
voices cen be given out by the pho
nooraph with besuty of tone and
distinctness past belief, snd the du
plicating apparatus for phonogrsms
is so cheap an affair that the price Of
music for the phonograph will be
scarcely worth considering. AS the
phonogrsm will be practically indie
structible by ordinary use such music
can be played over aid over again.
MY first phonograph, as you re-
member, consisted simply of q roller
carrying the foil as provided with q
diaphragm point properly arranged
to scrape or inden' the Toll. Ihe
roller was turned by hand. In the
new instrument there is far more